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Earlier today, fellow 3four3 coach Chris released his first blog post. (Read it here: Chris Cramer)
His post details how important it is to have a philosophy that is shared by the entire coaching staff, and implemented across the board with all teams.
I am assuming that MOST of you are currently experiencing or have experienced the exact opposite of what Chris wrote about. You probably belong to a Club that has no clear identity. The coaches probably teach a variety of things. And you? Well, you’re probably trying to do right thing and feel like the weirdo because no one else is doing anything remotely similar.
I wanted to take a second and shine the spotlight on my assistant coach, Ian Lane. He bought into what I was selling to my high school Varsity team, and then sold it himself to his JV team. The same philosophy we had been using at the Varsity level was finally transferred to the JV level when Ian took over the program.
Before playing the first game of the 2013-2014 season, Ian had basically 2 weeks of ‘boot camp’ to teach his players the basics of our style. The problem with JV is that about 1/2 the team was BRAND NEW to our program. The other 1/2 were on JV for a second, or third, season for a reason (if that tells you anything). Ian was still able to get this from his girls though:
The girls on JV knew that when they were learning things with Ian on JV that it would transfer directly to my Varsity team. They might not be quite up to speed on some things, but the basics had been covered. They knew the vision. They knew what it was supposed to look like. And my varsity girls knew that when a JV player joined us, it was for a reason. And that they were not expected to go soft on them. I cannot tell you how valuable that was as a Varsity coach to be able to pull a girl up and feel confident that she would fit right in, not only with her personality, but her mentality (they were trained to be badasses and smash everyone!) and her tactical knowledge. I was so confident that I even called up our JV attacking mid and gave her crucial minutes in our intense league finale and threw her right into the fire when we played in our division playoffs.
Having a clear philosophy is the most important thing. And implementing it across the board with your program, whether it’s two teams or twenty, is absolutely crucial.
Wow this is fantastic John and Ian. I’ve watched a number of your videos from the varsity team. From the looks of it the JV team is in a similar boat. I know how JV can be too. Girls with no soccer experience coming to play soccer. Awesome that they want to play, but impossible to catch them up. No doubt that a JV girl would be ready to handle Varsity because the foundation is there. For varsity, you have a proper “academy” running in below with this JV team.
Thanks for sharing the results of your academy.
I’ve also experienced clubs that either
1) claimed to have a vision (usually revolving around possession, skillful play, yada yada) but in reality have their coaches playing the Sam old same old,
2) who want to implement a top to bottom style that is junk.
We’ve been doing the same thing as you at Mt Tahoma HS ( see vids on this page) and our JV has actually had more success early on because<span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);”> what they are doing is so differentbfrom how ouropponents approach JV. We get mostly kids who don’t play on teams so developing an academy is our only chance to be competitive. Trying to infiltrate the middle schools is our next goal. That would be something</span>
Are you hosting the 3four3 clinic this weekend. Just got back from Bolivia our I would be interested in going. I have a buddy in AG who is interested. He’s Bernardo’s asst coach and I’d like to expose him to this methodology. Heard you played them recently and weren’t impressedwith their style 🙂
Scott-
I just watched his and Bernardo’s team play this weekend actually. Their Center Forward and Holding Mid are two of my high school players that I have worked with for quite awhile, at the high school and club level. They connected for two goals in the first half of the game I watched. Bernardo began scouting them this high school season. Those two players were actually on a rival club team coached by fellow 3four3 member, and friend of mine, Pete Duguran.
We already have several 3four3 member coaches attending the clinic and you’re more than welcome to join! Maybe you, John, and I can grab a beer or something while you’re down here and discuss some things. I’d love to meet up with you and John and talk soccer. Feel free to reach out to me via email: johnpranjic@gmail.com
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